Erick Lindgren and some friends went to a comedy show with Dane Cook as the headliner. Ten minutes into the Dane Cook set Lindgren et. al left the building because they didn't really think that Dane Cook was funny. Dane from the stage, in a large building, says:

"Where the hell are you all going?!?"

"We're leaving because your show sucks and you're not funny," responds Erick.

"Just walk back out that door to the unemployment line!"

"You know what? I am unemployed, have been for a long time, and make more money than you do. If I had my own Showtime special then I might even be funny too."

And since it's not human nature to actually be happy for someone else's good fortune (what fun is that?), a bunch of pro poker players and celebs got together to sing about that fucking Erick Lindgren guy's good run.

Maybe the vocals aren't as "in tune" as "I'm Fucking Matt Damon" or "I'm Fucking Ben Affleck," but it's not like Allen "The Chainsaw" Kessler is going to go to choir practice or anything. Dudes like him are too busy on Facebook for shit like that.

In Part I of our latest webisode of The Toke, we followed the $5k buy-in Rounders Magazine FFL draft with Gavin Smith, Daniel Negreanu, Erick Lindgren, Brandon Cantu, and Peter "Nordberg" Feldman, or as Edog calls him, "Feldberg."

The auction draft was mostly just shit talking, with Gavin summing it up pretty well: "These guys have been spending money like a bunch of fucking retards."

Part II--the after-party in Gavin's Palms Kingpin fantasy suite--coming soon. That one will be the Dark Knight to this video's Batman Begins.

After the 2008 WSOP $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. final table, we heard from a few prominent pros that it was going to be nearly impossible for ESPN to edit this one and make eventual champ Scotty Nguyen look good.

The stream of mf bombs and insults coming out of Nguyen's mouth would've gotten almost any other player a penalty of some sort, but not the Prince of Poker.

By now most people should be over the illusion of poker players as role models. But ESPN and the WPT has done a good job over the years of glossing over the seedier stuff in the industry, and Nguyen was easily one of the biggest benefactors of this treatment.

However, he just flushed all that good will down the toilet.

From his complete disrespect for other players, belligerent drunkenness, attempts at collusion with Erick Lindgren (who obviously wanted no part of it and was distancing himself from/standing up to Scotty throughout the night), and desecrating the memory of Chip Reese (who the night was kind of dedicated to), Scotty will likely never be looked at the same again.

Some of you may of heard about this being in the works and it's almost complete. Basically, this is what happens when you run insanely good for about 31 years and cap it off by winning the 2008 WSOP Player of the Year. Pretty sure you'll get the gist.

Erick Lindgen was among many big names pros who may have won tonight's ESPN 2008 WSOP broadcast.

Now we don't want to spoil who won tonight's 2008 World Series of Poker broadcast, so let's just say this: you may or may not have heard already, but this year ended up being officially tagged The Year of the ProTM.

In tonight's broadcast (Event #4 - $5,000 Mixed Hold'em), the pros really helped drive home the point that it was the year of them, with a final table that included in no particular order of where they actually finished: 2008 WSOP Player of the Year Erick Lindgren, Justin Bonomo, Andrew Robl, Roland de Wolfe, David "ChinoTM" Rheem, Howard Lederer, David Williams, Pat Pezzin, and Isaac Haxton.

It's probably a good idea for you guys to vote on who you think will win tonight's ESPN broadcast on the WCP Forumhere. Since you have no idea who won it. Vote here.

Also in case you missed it, vote for who you think will win The November 9TMhere.

In related news, here's a preview of a feature ESPN is doing on Erick Lindgren from his golf prop bet last year. We mention this because 1) it's cool to see that make the ESPN broadcast, and 2) it appears as if ESPN has failed to give RawVegas.tv credit for use of the footage (at least during the segment). Watch the entire Erick Lindgren golf prop bet here and here.

For all we know this guy on the right could be Brian Schaedlich, the current chipleader.

In big-name big news 2008 WSOP Player of the YearErick Lindgren just saw his redunkulous 2008 World Series of Poker come to an end after the dinner break on Day 2A. Our live reporter was on hand to witness the hand E-Dog busted out on and here's how it went down: Lindgren played a hand and ended up getting all of his chips in before it was over and he lost.

In no-name big news a guy who his friends and family call Brian Schaedlich and everyone else refers to as "hey you" is the first player to cross the half a million mark, or about 3% of what the average chip stack will be at the final table in November. Just in case he Jamie Golds this tournament we'll mention his name again. It's Brian Schaedlich, and apparently he qualified via a $135 satellite.

In case you haven't heard yet, Full Tilt Poker pro Erick Lindgren is 2008 WSOP Player of the Year.

In case you haven't heard yet, this bodes well for The Year of the ProTM ending the year as the official slogan of the 2008 WSOP.

And Lindgren wasn't the only pro who had a good WSOP. Many of the top names in the game helped prove that it was the year of them. Following Lindgren was Barry Greenstein (counts twice), Jacobo Fernandez, David Benyamine, John "Razor" Phan, the spectacularly-breasted J.C. Tran, Farzad Rouhani, Daniel Negreanu, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, and David Singer.

Look at that list! The only people you could sort of argue aren't pros are Jacobo Fernandez and Farzad Rouhani. Terrorists maybe. But otherwise it's all pros. It's sick. Sick!

Also sick is a tribute/parody video rumored to be in the works to honor the Player of the Year. More to come on this later...

Robert Mizarchi and Erick Lindgren are somewhere in the Rio Amazon Room at the 2008 WSOP.

It'll be an interesting day. With turn-out a little under expectation for Days 1A and 1B of the 2008 WSOP Main Event, everyone is hoping for a strong surge of registrants this weekend. Actually, that's not very interesting at all.

A little more than half the starting field survived play yesterday, with 615 poker players moving on to Day 2. A couple of "some guys" are big stacked, with Ben Sarnoff (177,500) and Brian Schaedlich (160,725) atop the leaderboard.

Of the pros who have formally formed a consurtium of sorts to pile-drive home The Year of the ProTM, The Grinder's bro Robert Mizrachi is among the big stacks with 142,400. Other pros still in pursuit include the wildly underrated until we keep saying that and make him overrated Alex Balandin, oh wait never mind we're thinking of Alex Bolotin (109,925), Erick Lindgren (92,325), Barny Boatman (80,600), the blind guy from last year Hal Lubarsky (70,700), Hoyt Corkins (67,525), Erik Seidel (64,925), Patrik Antonius (64,125), Vanessa Rousso, a woman, who went to Duke (48,450), and 2007 WSOP final table-istAlex Kravchenko (45,300).

For a list of those who have departed us from the 2008 WSOP Main Event, read here and here.

In what all "pros" as well as "years" at the 2008 WSOP considered a "must-win" situation, Scotty Nguyen, a pro, won the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event early this morning, giving The Year of The ProTM what could best be described as a "serious shot in the arm" for official moniker of this year's World Series.

Fortunately for the pros, the deck was stacked in their favor going into the event. From our pick to win it, Huck Seed, to Barry Greenstein (who counts twice) and Erick Lindgren, the odds were in favor of a pro pulling this one out.

In the end it was Nguyen, baby. The title gave Scotty $1,989,120, his fifth WSOP bracelet, and poker journalists everywhere a chance to make plays on the words "Win" and "Nguyen" in their tournament recap headlines.

Right now, we'd say it's a coin flip as to whether the 2008 WSOP will end up earning it's The Year of the ProTM moniker that we trademarked when all is said and done.

Some of this argument simply hinges on this: when exactly do you qualify as a "pro?" We're certainly not willing to play the role of God and make that assessment for people. But then again, how else will we know for sure? It's so daunting.

:: Event #47 ($1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo) - Case in point. Ryan Hughes, who won a Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo event last year, took down this one, earning his second WSOP bracelet. Even though only 7 people in the poker world have heard of Hughes before and only 3 would recognize him walking down the street, Hughes is a pro, right? We say an emphatic "yes" to that question, btw. For the win, Hughes banks $183,368. Get full results here.

:: Event #45 ($50,000 H.O.R.S.E.) - Here's a chance for the pros to put a stake in the ground and say, "Dammit, this is the year of us!" Full Tilt Poker pro Erick Lindgren will bring the chip lead to the final table, stacked at 3,680,000. A win here would all but cement Lindgren as the 2008 WSOP POY. The same could be said for the man in third, Barry Greenstein, who is stacked at 1,955,000. Scotty Nguyen is second overall with 3,535,000. And our perennial pick to win it, Huck Seed, is sixth overall with 1,200,000. Get full final table chip counts here.

:: Event #48 ($2,000 No Limit Hold'em) - Lots of collective WSOP cashes in this group but no one that you'd really look at and say, "Yeah, he's a pro." Get final table chip counts here.

:: Event #49 ($1,500 No Limit Hold'em) - This one had 2,718 entrants, playing down to 215 early this morning. First place pays $631,053. A surprising number of big named pros remain, although chip leader Micah Raskin (175,000), is not one of them. However, some big named big stacks do include Young Phan (128,000), Greg "FBT" Mueller (120,000), the spectacularly-breasted J.C. Tran (above, 93,000), and David "The Dragon" Pham* (90,000). Get a more complete list of chip counts here.

Get J.C.'s full photo after the jump and check out the entire spread here.

Mike Wattel played the role of bubble boy in the 2008 WSOP H.O.R.S.E. event, busting in 17th place. There's been a number of knock-outs since then, including Doyle Brunson in 16th and Andy Bloch in 15th (earning both $124,320).

At dinner break, 13 remain. Erick Lindgren is chip leader, stacked at 1,790,000. Our perennial pick to win it, Huck Seed, is third with 1,460,000. Scotty Nguyen, Phil Ivey, Barry Greenstein, and Daniel Negreanu are all alive, giving The Year of the ProTM a last gasp shot at still being The Year of the ProTM.

Full recap (i.e. a paragraph) coming shortly, but half-way through last night's $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event, here's Daniel Negreanu and Erick Lindgren's take on some of the bad play going on and general thoughts on Allen "The Chainsaw" Kessler (i.e. Larry David).

Shannon Elizabeth (above) is among the millions of poker players not included in this WSOP update.

The Entities decided to take it a little easy this weekend, but only because we love you. As we've all learned through our respective marriages, the best way to make someone grow fonder of you is through a steady diet of ignoring them and neglect. And here you are thinking to yourself, "I thought it was through bringing them flowers, listening to their problems, and being a strong emotional rock of support." And that's why you're a pussy.

:: Event #24 ($2,500 Pot Limit Omaha/Hold'em) - Listen, we know sometimes people have no control over what their nicknames are, but there's nothing cool about being called "The Italian Pirate." However that didn't stop Max Pescatori from denying Allen Cunningham a WSOP bracelet for the 47th consecutive year. Pescatori banks his second bracelet and $246,471. Get full results here.

:: Event #25 ($10,000 No Limit Hold'em Heads-Up) - Many people consider Kenny Tran the best no limit hold'em cash player in the world. He doesn't play many WSOP events, but the ones he does, he does well. Tran won his first bracelet over the weekend by beating, as Dr. Pauly would say, a "redunkulous" field in the $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Heads-Up World Championship at the WSOP. The win brings Tran $539,056. Vanessa Selbst, a woman, finished third. We've spotted Selbst at various cash games googling her name, and we think it might've been her confirming with this comment that she does have a hot girlfriend.

:: Event #26 ($1,500 Razz) -Barry Greenstein is the absolutely most perfect person in the world to win a Razz tournament. Razz is generally detested by most players and Greenstein often doesn't look like he's enjoying playing poker at all (even though it's quite the opposite). For the win, Greenstein banks $97,389 and his third bracelet. Archie Karas, yes this guy, came in seventh. Get full results here.

:: Event #28 ($5,000 Pot Limit Omaha w/ Rebuys) - Big name final table on this one. Online poker legend Phil "OMGClayAiken" Galfond is the chip leader stacked at 1,393,000. The final table also includes David Benyamine (1,041,000), John Juanda (694,000), going for a record tying 11th WSOP bracelet Johnny Chan (624,000), Daniel Negreanu (460,000), and going for a record 12th WSOP bracelet Phil Hellmuth (119,000). First pays $817,781 and final table play begins at 3pm PST.

For the latest webisode of The Toke with Wicked Chops Poker, we caught up with poker pro Erick Lindgren while he was chilling in the Poker Royalty lounge. Listen to what he has to say about the WSOP so far, including Day 2 of the $10,000 World Championship Heads-Up Hold'em event.

Poker pro Erick Lindgren stopped by to chat right before he took his seat as the chip leader at the final table of Event No. 18 - the $5k buy-in No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball w/ReBuys tournament at the 2008 WSOP. After two long days of play, Lindgren is in prime position to win his second bracelet of this year's series, or at least he is in as good as position as one could be in the toughest field so far.

A quick glance over at the table, Lindgren has maintained his chip advantage so far, leading with just over a million in chips. In second is Barry Greenstein with 935k. Mike Matusow, Jeffrey Lisandro and 2007 POY Tom Schneider round out the final five remaining.

We didn't do a full update yesterday from the WSOP, mostly because one development truly left us horrified. We didn't know how to report it. Because it surely had to have been made up. Seriously, who does what we are about to report? What kind of a person would do this? Definitely not anybody we know, that's for sure.

:: Event #14 ($10,000 Seven Card Stud) - We spent a good portion of the day yesterday trying to verify this story because it seemed like something out of a Jerry Bruckheimer movie. A very bad Jerry Bruckheimer movie with no explosions. But apparently it's true. Eric Brooks won his first WSOP bracelet (and making his first cash too) in Event #14, the Seven Card Stud World Championship. He subsequently then GAVE ALL OF THE PRIZE MONEY--$415,856 TO BE EXACT--TO CHARITY. Read that last sentence again. Is he flipping crazy? Aren't there laws that prevent mentally deranged people from doing shit like this? We're not sure what this country is coming to, but we are sure it's a place we don't want to be. Full results here.

:: Event #16 ($2,000 Limit Omaha Hi-Low) - Chalk up yet another Omaha final table to The Intense Stare of Scott Clements. However, do not chalk up another bracelet. He finished seventh, banking $36,232. Instead, the tourney was taken down by Justin GuariniAndrew Brown. This is Brown's first WSOP bracelet, banking $226,483 and denying Ted Forrest, who finished second, his sixth. Get full results here.

:: Event #18 ($10,000 2-7 Lowball w/ Rebuys) - Always a "who's who" event with big names galore. Full Tilt Poker pro Erick Lindgren, who could easily run away with 2008 World Series of Poker Player of the Year honors, takes a massive chip to the final table, stacked at 1,104,000. He's followed by Barry Greenstein (541,000), super skinny Mike Matusow (520,000), Jeffrey Lisandro (461,000), David Benyamine (410,000), Tony G (394,000), and last year's POY, Tom Schneider (162,000). First place pays $537,682. Get final table updates starting at 3pm PST here.

:: Event #19 ($1,500 Pot Limit Omaha) - Fast play in this one, as 759 entered and only 46 remain. Vanessa Selbst, a woma--, a woma--, ugh, a woman, is big stacked with 203,600. Other big name big stacks include Nam Le (59,500) and Chau Giang (58,300). Get full chip counts here.

:: Event #20 ($2,000 Limit Hold'em) - The last tourney of the day saw 479 enter. Play concluded with 125 remaining. The chip leader is Daniel Makowsky, stacked at 49,200. World renown cougar and WCP guest blogger Michele Lewis was eliminated towards the end of the day, but gave us some "big ups" (her words) in this interview with hottie Tiffany Michelle. Also in the event but eliminated was NWP's Bryan Micon. Watch his latest Degenerate Update below. Get full Event #20 chip counts here.

2008 WSOP Band of Bloggers: Get full recaps and payouts from WorldSeriesofPoker.comhere. Get Dr. Pauly's take on WSOP happenings here. Gary Wise has some thoughts here. Please please don't forget Pokerati here. And get Poker Prof's recap and more photos here.

Unfortunately for the aesthetics of this post, we have no news to report on the spectacularly-breasted J.C. Tran. However, we've received a number of questions the past few days on what exactly is up with that nickname, along with a few others ("Salty" Joe Hachem, for example). So sometime in the next day or so we'll review the origins of some of those names. Now on to the recaps as there were six tourney in action yesterday.

Event #10 ($2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Low-8 or Better) - With Erick Lindgren's bracelet win (Video: Lindgren discuss WSOP bracelet), Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi is among the leaders for the title "Best Without Bracelet" now. He had a chance to shed that monkey off his back in Event #10, but was the first out at the final table. Farzad Rouhani took the title, besting a field of 388 to bank $232,911. Get full tourney results here.

Event #11 ($5,000 NLH Shoot-Out) - Only one of the "big names" from the remaining 36 made it down to the final 6, as Greg "FBT" Mueller will gun for his first WSOP bracelet. Joining him at the final table are Sirous Jamshidi, Thomas Roupe, newly elected Davidson Matthew Club memberPhil Tom, Tim West, and Leo Wolpert.

Event #12 ($1,500 Limit Hold'em) - In a grueling day that tourney officials decided to halt at 18 since there was no way of getting to 9...wait for it...Vinnie Vinh!!! is the chip leader, stacked at 345,000. Vinnie Vinh!!! The potential for something awesome happening here is a full 14 on a scale of 1-10. Also still in contention is Erick Lindgren, stacked at 90,000. Get full chip counts here.

Event #13 ($2,500 NLH) - Huge turn-out of 1,397, creating a spectacularly evil-and-lucky first place prize of $666,777. Edwin James OlmosEli Elezra ended the day as chip leader, stacked at 147,500. The absolutely red-hot Theo Tran continues his run at 2008 WSOP Player of the Year and is in second overall with 134,900. Other notables among the 137 remaining include Lee Watkinson/Markholt, Vanessa Selbst, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, and Liz Lieu, a woman. Get full chip counts here.

Event #14 ($10,000 7CS) - A total of 158 bought in to this marquee event, creating a first place prize of $415,856. 80 remain after Day 1. Leading the way is Alexander Kostritsyn with 121,100. Other big name big stacks include Lorenzo Lamas (89,100), Daniel Negreanu (watch Daniel's vlog on the event below) (79,700), Ralph Perry (76,100), and Cyndi Violette, a woman (70,300). Plenty of notables remain, get the chip counts here.

2008 WSOP Band of Bloggers: Get full recaps and payouts from WorldSeriesofPoker.comhere. Get Dr. Pauly's take on WSOP happenings here. Gary Wise has some thoughts here. Please please don't forget Pokerati here. And get Poker Prof's recap and more photos here.

Event #5 ($1,000 NLH + rebuys) -Michael Banducci will take a big chip lead to the final table, stacked at 1,655,000. Alan Jaffray follows with 1,222,000. Former EPT winner and Georgia Bulldog Jeff Williams is fourth with 683,000. And WSOP cashing machine Michael Binger is eigth overall with 186,000. This one just missed a star-studded final 9, as Clonie Gowen, a woman, finished 15th, Daniel Negreanu finished 22nd, Nenad Medic was 24th and John Juanda was knocked out in 27th.

Event #6 ($1,500 Omaha Hi/Lo) - No shocker in this one as The Intense Stare of Scott Clements made the final table and will gun for his third WSOP bracelet in three years. He's fourth overall with 315,000 and our official-pick-to-win-it (OPTWITM). Clements trails big stack Thang Luu (560,000). Get full chip counts here.

Event #7 ($2,000 NLH) - A field of 1,592 ponied up $2k a piece for a first place payout of $550,601. Only 152 remain. Theo Tran, who finished fourth in Event #2, continues a solid 2008 WSOP ending the day as chip leader stacked at 145,800. The spectacularly-breasted J.C. Tran (above) is among the chip leaders with 93,200. Get full chip counts here.

Event #8 ($10,000 Mixed) - 192 runners bought into this highly anticipated tourney which includes about every form of poker. Day 1 wrapped with 89 remaining and some familiar names atop the leaderboard. Last year's WSOP Player of the Year Tom Schneider is big stacked with 142,300. Other big name big stacks include Gus Hansen (119,500), Johnny Chan (97,800), Jeff Madsen (87,500), Tom "durrr" Dwan (86,600), Greg "FBT" Mueller (84,600), Brandon Adams (75,000), and Phil Ivey (69,600). Get full chip counts here.

2008 WSOP Band of Bloggers: Get full recaps and payouts from WorldSeriesofPoker.com here. Get Dr. Pauly's take on WSOP happenings here. Gary Wise has some thoughts here. Please please don't forget Pokerati here. And get Poker Prof's recap and more photos here.

* Get the full size version of the above photo after the jump and more of the above in this full semi-NSFW spread here.

Lindgren bested one of the most impressive final tables in recent memory en route to his first WSOP bracelet. He defeated Justin Bonomo heads-up for the Event #4 ($5,000 Mixed Hold'em) title, banking $374,505.

By early evening there were four different 2008 World Series of Poker tourneys going on simultaneously, so lots to cover. Below is the abridged summation:

:: Event #2 ($1,500 NLH) - After playing down from 18 to 9 earlier in the day, the final table kicked off in primetime. Grant Hinkle (Blair's brother) bested a field of 3,929 to take the $831,462 first place prize. James Akenhead came in second to bank $520,219. Chris "Jesus" Ferguson was third ($388,287) and Theo Tran fourth ($327,148). Get full recaps here.

Event #4 ($5,000 Mixed Hold'em) - Now this is a final table. More established names than any final table save the $50k H.O.R.S.E. that we can remember. One-time WSOP bracelet runner-upDavid Rheem is chip leader stacked at 885,000. One-time WSOP Main Event runner-up David Williams is second with 678,500. Justin Bonomo is stacked third with 517,500. Going after his elusive first bracelet is our official-pick-to-win-it (OPTWITM) Erick Lindgren with 345,000. Team Full Tilt Poker leader Howard Lederer, who earlier in the year in Bluff Magazinewe predicted would have a monster season is next with 324,500. The rest of the final table includes Roland de Wolfe (194,000), Andrew Robl (162,000), Howard Stern's illigitimate sonIsaac Haxton (115,500), and Pat Pezzin (108,500). Final table play begins at 3pm today, get your live updates here.

Event #5 ($1,000 NLH w/ Rebuys) - One of our favorite events is led by one of our favorite players, as some guy named Phil Ivey takes the chip lead to Day 2, stacked at 175,500. He's followed by "That Guy Again?" Amit Makhija with 161,100. Making UGA proud is one-time EPT winnerJeff Williams with 145,700. Other notables include either Lee Watkinsonor Lee Markholt (same guy, right?) with 80,800, Phil Hellmuth (67,300), Daniel Negreanu (64,500), and John Juanda (60,600). In total, 106 players remain and play begins again at 2pm. Get full chip counts here.

Event #6 ($1,500 Omaha Hi/Lo) - While we were busy sweating Shannon Elizabeth, we forgot to mention that Scott Clements (a lock to cash in these Omaha events) looks like he's the freaking Incredible Hulk. Dude is huge. We'll get pics today. Clements is among the chip leaders with 28,000. James Van Alstyne leads them all with 40,000. Get full chip counts here.

2008 WSOP Band of Bloggers: Get full recaps and payouts from WorldSeriesofPoker.com here. Get Dr. Pauly's take on WSOP happenings here. Gary Wise has some thoughts here. Please please don't forget Pokerati here. And get Poker Prof's recap and more photos here.

So we made it to the Commerce today after a night of relatively moderate bedlam that kicked off at the Library Alehouse in Santa Monica and somehow ended up with us at a Laurel Canyon mansion this morning with a group of Venice Beach trust fund hippies who graffiti'd are SUV rental with Obama stickers.

We'll save that story however for our forthcoming 4-part series entitled "How We Spent the Friday Night Before the WPT LA Poker Classic."

For now, the word from the Commerce is that the action got underway almost 35 7 plus hours ago and we're finally getting around to writing something and we don't have much to say besides that pretty much every poker player you know this side of the Atlantic is here including Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, Jamie Gold, John Phan, Carlos Mortensen, Are You Really Reading this List?, Paul Wasicka, Vannessa "Went to Duke" Rousso, Grover Cleveland, Layne Flack, Phil Laak, Josh Arieh, Rhahaeid Skaoodo, David Plastik, Barry Greenstein, Dan Harrington, Erick Lindgren, Mother Teresa, Eric Mizrachi, Scott Clements, Haralabos Voulgaris, Still Reading This?, David Williams, Freddy Deeb, We Wonder What We Should Eat for Dinner, Gavin Smith, David Singer, Lee Watkinson, Perhaps We'll Go to Panchos Tonight, Tom Schneider, Mark Seif, This Is Getting Tiring, Chau Giang, Tim Phan and Erick Seidel.

In total, 665 players started today, down considerably from last year's 791, and the total prize pool is $6,374,400, with first place set to take home $1,596,100. In 2007, Eric Hershler walked away with $2,429,970.

Lindgren, who ironically was the host of the event that drew 5637 players, became the first Full Tilt pro to ever take down a FTOPS event.

According to this poker blog, the final two hands had people chatbox-ing "Fixed." First, Lindgren flopped trip sixes to his opponent's queens up, and then on the final hand held JJ and drew runner-runner diamonds for a flush when his opponent flopped a set of queens.

As expected, because people are dumb, some 2p2ers are crying "rigged" this morning over at this thread.

Day 3 of the WPT World Poker Open, a non ladies-only event, is underway at the Gold Strike Casino in Tunica, Mississippi, and already the chipleader at the start of the day, Erick Lindgren, has been sent to the rail by an inebriated-ly obnoxious Men "The Master" Nguyen.

Not much more than 30 minutes after the start of play today, the two pros faced off in a big hand after the flop, with Lindgren pushing all-in after Nguyen raised Lindgren's lead-out bet. With the board showing Qh-4h-3d, Nguyen called and turned over pocket Queens and Lindgren showed Ah-10h for a nut flush draw. The turn and river came up black and blank, and as the WPT live blog reports:

Nguyen gets up from the table and really starts to celebrate, screaming, "Yes!" After a minute of this Lindgren says, "Act like you've been there before." To which, Freddy Deeb pipes in with, "We're not on TV yet." Nguyen counts out his chips and after Lindgren pays him off he holds 80,000.

Marginally crippled and visibly irritated, Lindgren then pushed all in with Ad-7d only to be called by Nguyen, who held As-9s. The board would be no help, sending Lindgren to the rail in 24th place ($12,060).

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After 4+ hours of playing Wii Tennis in the midst of writing this post, we see that a few big name players, including John Phan, TJ Cloutier and Barry Greenstein, have been eliminated, but several top pros are still in the hunt with 13 players left including still-the-chipleader Nguyen, a "short AND bald" Freddy Deeb, the certifiably insane Dutch Boyd, Hoyt Corkins and John Spadavecchia.

You hear about the golfer who started a fire that burned 20 acres just by trying to hit out of the rough? Yeh we neither. But the video below more or less re-enacts what happened with a little help from a molotov cocktail and a whole of lot of stupidity. Speaking of, be sure to catch up on recent Webisodes of High Stakes Golf at RawVegas.tv. We'd tell you that Gavin Smith is on fire, but you know better. The only thing that is burning is a hole in his wallet.

Erick Lindgren took down his $340k golf prop bet at Bear's Best golf course.

After starting the day at 5:45am ("I had to run to catch up with him on the first hole. I wasn't even ready yet." said his caddy), Lindgren made it through his first two rounds with relative ease. However, he started grinding towards the end of his third round. But after shooting a 48 on his final front nine and being at 69 after 13, the buy-outs began. Gavin Smith, who was originally in for $100k, bought out for $60k. Chris Bell and others bought out as well. Ivey remained on the hook for his full amount.

Catch a brief recap of the action on The TOKE on RawVegas.tv below and coverage of the entire day's play tomorrow afternoon.

Photo of Diora Baird because she is not Erick Lindgren after 72 holes of golf.

Watch the teaser video to hear Erick and others on the course talk about the bet.